


Studies in Chemistry

by dutchmoxie



Category: Cassandra Palmer Series - Karen Chance
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, F/M, Pining, he's in love and she's clueless
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-06
Updated: 2017-09-06
Packaged: 2018-12-24 15:57:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,541
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12016128
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dutchmoxie/pseuds/dutchmoxie
Summary: She'd blown off his eyebrows once, and he still loved her. John Pritkin pines for his engaged lab partner.





	Studies in Chemistry

**Author's Note:**

  * For [](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts).



One of these days, she was actually going to be the death of him. She was awkwardly going to put in just a little too much of the one chemical while he was too busy staring into those eyes and he’d get blown up trying to save her. 

But as long as she smiled at him just like this, he wasn’t sure he’d mind. 

Crushes were just so, inconvenient. And having any kind of feelings for his very engaged lab partner - that was a recipe for disaster. 

But Cassie was just… she was Cassie, the strongest person he’d ever met. An orphan who’d been through hell because of her guardian, who’d clung to her fiance because he was the first to show her kindness when she was just twelve years old and he was - older. 

He did not mean to think of the inherent creepiness of Mircea Basarab - just the thought of him seemed to mar Cassie’s smile in his head. 

John Pritkin wasn’t sure he’d ever been this far gone - not even during his own brief marriage. 

The thought of that time sobered him enough to take another look at just what chemical Cassie had in her hands. 

“Stop,” he took it from her just in time. “I really don’t want to spend another week without eyebrows.”

“I didn’t know you could look surprised,” Cassie laughed. 

He could handle a bit of embarrassment - when your middle name was Myrddin, that was a trait learned at a very young age. Sure, he was annoyed, but then Cassie had laughed and he felt the anger fade away. 

The power she held over him was a serious threat to his angry, hostile reputation. Not that anyone dared to think him cuddly now. 

“Is that why you took the pictures?” he quirked one of his regrown eyebrows. 

“I needed evidence, your honor,” she just loved to mess with him. 

He made sure to pour the correct chemical into the vial ever so slowly, trying not to let those dancing eyes distract him. He was good at this, at measuring everything perfectly and managing to create the correct reactions every time. Maybe the Myrddin name had given him the wizard’s powers. According to his father, Merlin/Myrddin had been an ancestor. 

“So, last lab of the semester,” Cassie stopped looking at him. 

He’d been dreading that thought for ages now - they probably weren’t going to see each other after this. Her fiance didn’t like him - didn’t like his girl having male friends other than good old Billy (the aging gambler who claimed Cassie kept him young). Pritkin was ready to blame Mircea for a lot of Cassie’s isolation here at college. 

“One last chance to blow us all up,” he teased. 

“Might as well make it count?” There was a question mark at the end of that sentence, right? 

Right?

“Maybe,” he shrugged. “I kind of want to live to get my diploma - I’ve gotten this far. And survived all of your other attempts on my life.” 

Once again he had to play it all off as a joke - he didn’t hate her anymore. He had grown much too fond of her and she could never know. 

“I’m only graduating because of you,” she stopped him in his tracks. “You have to know that.” 

He was only minutes away from freedom - from a long weekend of drowning his sorrows in booze and books and some good workouts. Of course she had to say something to bring the pining back to the forefront. 

“Cassie,” he felt lost for words. 

“With everything that happened this semester,” she continued, gently grabbing hold of his hand. “With Tony out of prison, and my mom’s family, and my dad’s past, and Mircea’s daughter… You were there for me.” 

Had that really all happened in just one semester? He felt like he’d known her forever, since his childhood in Wales, his teenage years in Hell… And somehow she’d only been his greatest champion for a few months. 

“You’re the strongest person I know,” he told her. 

It was the truth. After everything, she didn’t give up and just kept trying to pass her classes and live a reasonably normal life. Cassandra Palmer never gave up - except for that one brief time she’d let him convince her to eat healthier. That lasted about five seconds. 

“John,” she actually used his dreaded first name on occasion. 

He only flinched a little. He’d never felt like a John. 

“Thank you,” was all she said before she pulled him into a hug. 

She was small but solid, her fluffy curls tickling his face when he tried to look at her. The current of energy, of chemistry, running through him was no surprise to him, but clearly Cassie had not been expecting it. 

Far too quickly she stepped back, cheeks red and hair messier than usual over her way too large lab coat. 

He was just about to say something witty, trying to relieve the tension when he noticed their mixture about to wreak havoc. He turned off the burner before any real harm could be done. 

The end result was almost what it should have been, which was enough for him, seeing as the class was over and Cassie’s fiance (or one of his servants) would be waiting for her right outside the door. 

“No explosions this time,” the TA running the lab appeared pleased at the end result. 

Cassie glared at the man’s back, and Pritkin had to stifle a smile. She just wasn’t all that threatening in her “no drama llama” shirt. 

“Don’t be a stranger,” Cassie tried to make him promise before her fiance’s bodyguard whisked her away. 

He was left in the hallway, knowing that was the last time he’d spend with Cassandra Palmer. 

* * *

 

She did love to prove him wrong, showing up with her Chemistry final in the hand that now had a bare ring finger. 

“I did it,” she thrust the paper in his face. 

“Cassie?” he was still processing her presence. 

He’d had this dream before, and it was either just about to get seriously R-rated or extremely embarrassing. He looked down at his body - at least he was wearing clothes this time, and there were no people jeering and mocking in the hallway. 

Cassie let herself in, a whirlwind of happiness and sunlight. He’d not seen her in a few weeks - and he’d kept himself far too busy to miss her. Much. 

“Have you already forgotten me, Pritkin?” she was delighted, teasing him mercilessly. “I didn’t know I was this forgettable.” 

It seemed as though it was impossible to speak a word - how could he say something to break the spell and ruin her delight? Soon he’d wake up and he’d be alone again. 

“Oh, you have even more books than I expected,” she was looking over all his possessions. “Even some naughty ones.” 

Pritkin was not going to be embarrassed easily, not by a phantom Cassie who looked happier than he’d ever seen her, just poking through the historical romances on the lowest shelf of one of his many bookcases. 

“I thought you were practically a monk,” she looked up at him from her perch. “But I see you’d rather read about heaving bosoms and pretty dicks instead.” 

Clearly she had no idea about the temptation she presented in her white t-shirt (with some ridiculous print he couldn’t quite make out) and jeans, with that pleased smile on her face. He couldn’t stop looking at the tan line where that gaudy ring should have been. 

“I missed you,” he finally let himself say it. 

He braced for impact, knowing that was the one thing that always either woke him up or revealed the nature of his dream to him. Any second now Mircea would show up with an even bigger diamond, or Pritkin’s father would show up to drag him back to Hell. 

Any second now…

Only nothing happened, nothing except Cassie’s grin got a little watery before she pulled herself up to her full height. She launched herself at him only seconds later, telling him the full story in between squelched sobs. 

Mircea’d found out about Pritkin somehow, and demanded Cassie never see him again. He told her he would no longer tolerate her secrets and lies, and patronized her for not knowing that Pritkin undoubtedly only had wicked intensions towards her. He called her lucky to have survived these past few months, and she’d thrown the ring in his handsome face and walked out. 

She’d moved in with her waitress friend Francoise and studied her ass off to pass every single one of her finals. And she succeeded - because she was Cassie Palmer and she was much better than anyone ever thought she was. 

Okay, that last part was all him, but the rest of it was the summary of what she’d told him. Once again her life had been uprooted, but this time she’d been at the center of had. She’d chosen to change it all this time. 

“You’re my friend,” her voice was steady now. “I need you. I’m not leaving you.” 

His heart pounded in his chest. He loved this girl, but she was going to be the death of him. 


End file.
